Great Opportunities on a Small Island

In the fall of 1994, Lamont and Janice McDowell Gingerich bid good-bye to their children, left their home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and headed for the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. There they spent two weeks involved in “the most delightful, spiritually uplifting, and yet physically tiring training and activities sessions,” Sister Gingerich reports.

On 15 September, the Gingeriches headed for Guam. After a brief orientation, they continued on to Ebeye, a small island in the Kwajalein atoll. The island is about one kilometer long and about 110 meters wide. It is home to approximately 13,000 people.

“As a missionary couple, we helped with as many of the administrative and other duties as possible, thereby allowing the younger missionaries maximum time for proselyting activities,” Elder Gingerich says.

But the Gingeriches did more than that. Twice a week, they volunteered at the island hospital. Their work did not go unnoticed. In fact, after the members had waited almost a year, the mayor of the community finally granted permission for a meetinghouse to be built—primarily because of the Gingeriches’ community service work. Initially the community leader had been concerned about the perception that the only thing Church members wanted was to baptize people, but when he saw the missionaries volunteer their time, he realized that they truly cared about the community and local people.

“Couple missionaries also enjoy great success in helping less-active members come back to church,” Elder Gingerich observes. “The only problem this mission has with missionary couples is that there aren’t nearly enough of them to go around!”